Journalist, Unitarian Minister and advocate for social causes including prison reform, Samuel June Barrows earned his living as a young man as a reporter in New York City. Isabel had the chance to study ophthalmology alongside Mary Safford in Vienna, and he insisted she take advantage of the opportunity. When she returned from a year away, he entered Harvard Divinity School in 1871 and was ordained as the Minister of the First Church in Dorchester on Nov. 2, 1876. His tenure lasted only until 1880 when he became editor of the Christian Register. He was elected to a term in the U.S. House of Representatives. The family remained in Dorchester until 1899. As a journalist for the remainder of his life, he traveled internationally as an advocate of prison reform, publishing articles about his travels and world events.

Barrows published hundreds of articles, but specifically in relation to Dorchester, he contributed a chapter to each of the first three volumes of the Memorial History of Boston about Dorchesterís history.

Here are some images from the Atheneum archive related to this topic. Click on any of these images to open a slideshow of all 1526 images.

Feedback

Do you know something about this topic? Do you have
other pictures or items or knowledge to share? What
about a personal story? Are you a collector? Do you
have questions? Contact us
here.Created: December 30, 2010 Modified: December 30, 2010